Yeah the energy in the first half was horrible. The "first game back" theory after a tough road trip seemed to hold true for this game. And Denver with fresh legs was pushing it. The Blazers really gutted this one out. On one hand I give the Blazers credit for staying calm and committed to trying to force the ball down low to Lopez while Denver was on fire from the arch (Including that lucky bank shot by Chandler) but the low bounce passes into him drive me crazy. (Too many TO's) It was also frustrating how they seemed to be going through the motions on D. Foye was left wide open. At home they do not seem to play with much urgency. Again I like that they never panic, but damn it would be nice if they did not keep putting themselves in a hole.
It's nice to see Stotts implement different defensive strategies. He's using more traps and doubles as the season progresses. We could see an entirely different team by seasons end
I only got to see the 4th quarter, and the defense was very good sans a few lapses where Foye and Wilson got to the basket for easy shots. They took away the 3, and Batum did a good job on Lawson. Denver seemed to be fighting the shot clock on every possession. I think that's about as good as our defense can play (in the 4th) with the personnel we have. It seems like a pattern is forming when we play average or below average teams, especially at home. We seem to coast until we need to flip switch defensively, letting lesser teams hang around. So far, we've managed to pull most of these games out. It kind of feels like playing with fire though. We don't have elite individual defenders. Plus, our bench is weak so our starters play heavy minutes. It's easy to point to a lack of effort, but if our staters played the entire game with "4th quarter intensity", what would they have left down the stretch?
Seriously? WTF? That equates to 76 points per game. That's mediocre? The Indiana Pacers are leading the league by allowing opponents only 89.2 points per game. You need to go back a decade to find a team that allowed fewer than 88 points per game. You need to go back 60 years to the 1953-54 season to find a team that held opponents to less than 84 points per game. So, yeah it was just one half, but allowing only 38 points in a half is in no way mediocre. In fact, if the Blazers played that kind of defense all the time, they'd be undefeated (the least points the Blazers have scored in a game this season is 90). Again, it's just one half and we all know defense is the Blazers biggest weakness, but let's at least give them a little credit when that actually play excellent defense. BNM
Well, to suggest that we played good defense for the "2nd half" just isn't true. It was only the 4th quarter where we were able to keep DEN from scoring the ball. The 3rd quarter was pretty crappy.
uh it was mediocre because they were still getting where they wanted. The only thing that changed was more bone-headed moves (like travelling) and shots that were falling in the previous quarters, not falling, and they were still getting wide open looks too. The blazers didnt do anything special in the 2nd half. The defense was still olay defense by lillard. It was only better in perception, because the other team lost their shooting streak luck. I will say that we ramped up the effort, but I still don't think we played elite defense in the 2nd half.
Batum on Lawson made a big difference; 0-5 for the rest of the game, I think. He loves to torch us. That, and Denver STILL not having an answer for LA. He was dynamite.
Yep, it cut down Lawson's scoring, but it also cut down his dibble penetration when is where Denver's offense starts. Contain Lawson and the rest of the Denver team suddenly struggles to score. Great move by Stotts and great job by Batum. I expect to see a lot of Batum guarding opposing PGs in the playoffs. Not for an entire game, as it would wear him out, but in the 4th quarter with the game on the line. Batum is a unique player. He's much more effective at guarding smaller quicker PGs than SFs his own size. And, that's a great weapon to have in today's NBA where most good teams initiate their offense through a small, quick, scoring PG (Indiana and Miami being notable exceptions). BNM
Stotts has been very good at making adjustments, particularly at the half-times of games when they are struggling. Last night was another great example. Having said this, it feels like if they could just improve incrementally for the rest of the season on the defensive end, it may be enough (in combination with a #1 offense) to win big.
Definitely the unsung hero of the game. It's something that won't show up in the box score, and most fans won't even notice it because it's happening away from the ball, for the most part. If Nic could play 48mpg and only worry about defending, passing, and rebounding that would be ideal. Just rotate him around to whoever has the hot hand, but mainly guarding PGs.
